Dog Walker Pricing

[GraceLikeRain]

Not really “dog walking” but I don’t know another succinct term.

For the first time in little man’s life he will be transitioning into a schedule where both people are gone a solid 9-10 hours a day. I know plenty of dogs do that but I can’t imagine doing it with him.

I am moving to a smallish neighborhood and I get a feeling that there are a number of retirees, stay at home parents, etc. given the car traffic I’ve seen during the day.

I’d like to have someone let him out mid day and spend 10-15 minutes throwing his ball or playing with him in a fenced in backyard. Little man is super even-tempered and 100% house broken so there would be no cleaning up accidents or coming in to destroyed things to handle.

What would be a reasonable ballpark number? Tracking exact time seems like a pain, do people ever do a flat monthly rate?

If you lived in a neighborhood and were home during the day, how much would you expect for 15 minutes of your time each day.

[Lizrd]

I just hired a pet sitter who is licensed, bonded and insured. She will do exactly what you described for my two dogs. I have scheduled her for intermittent days during the month when I am away on business. She charges $20 for a 20 minute “interactive play and potty break.” She charges $30 if she takes them on a walk. There is an additional fee for more than two dogs. One service I contacted did have a discounted monthly or weekly rate - you basically saved a buck or two a visit if you scheduled all 20 workdays in the month at once.

Good luck! I chose to go with a licensed, insured, bonded provider because I just don’t want any problems from unexpected circumstances - from my dogs or from her. This gal is an excellent communicator and sends a text with a photo at every visit. So far, so good.

[Laurierace]

I charge $10 for a 10 minute potty break or $15 for a 30 minute walk/playtime. I am bonded and insured.

[Ladylexie]

I do that and charge $10 as long as it is within five miles of my home.

[Ladylexie]

I also text a photo of the dog to the owner.

[luvmypup]

My dog walker comes to my house and picks up my pup, then goes around and picks up multiple dogs in the area and takes them to her fully fenced, MASSIVE acreage where they go for a 1.5 hour off leash walk. Then she brings him back home. He is usually gone for about 3-4 hours and comes home completely exhausted :). She charges $20 and is fully licensed.

[dappled]

I used to do a fair amount of dog walking/petsitting. For petsitting, like when someone was out of town completely, I usually charged $5/visit for a dog which usually ended up being $20/day. This was for someone who lived in my neighborhood so there was no gas consideration.

When I was doing regular dog walking for someone, I used to go 3x a week and take the dogs on a 10-15 minute walk, and she paid me $50/week.

If it’s someone in your neighborhood, anything over $15 for a quick walk and ball-throwing session seems high. If it was someone who had a drive, I could see them asking for more. That doesn’t mean I would pay it, though! :lol:

[BEARCAT]

Does your dog play well with others? Do any of those neighbors have playful dogs?
I would find someone that has another dog that needs exercise and have them come over for a daily play date. Great way to burn off energy and win-win for everybody.
If not, somewhere in the $10 to $15 range.

[findeight]

My sis charges between 10 and 22 a day depending on how close it is. A once a day visit within 2 miles to feed/check/ light clean up after indoor cats, birds, ferrets, gerbils etc bring in mail and packages left outside is 10. 3 miles to 5 miles is a few bucks more, she won’t go over 5 miles as a rule.

Dogs requiring 2-3 visits a day start at 15. Again mileage figures in. Multiple pet households and the odd farm animals she has a formula to figure out but nothing over 25 long as it’s within 5 miles. She’s built up a client list of about 75, most are vacation users but there’s a fair number of dailies. Enough she can be selective about accepting new ones and can drop an exsisting one if it becomes necessary.

So Cal, inland empire area. Insured. Takes credit cards.

[GraceLikeRain]

[QUOTE=BEARCAT;8617453]
Does your dog play well with others? Do any of those neighbors have playful dogs?
I would find someone that has another dog that needs exercise and have them come over for a daily play date. Great way to burn off energy and win-win for everybody.
If not, somewhere in the $10 to $15 range.[/QUOTE]

I don’t know the neighbors well enough to know for sure (I am not living there full time until June). I know at least a third of the neighbors have fenced yard so I imagine a few have dogs.

My guy plays really well with others but he’s a schnauzer. The breed plays kind of…awkwardly. He swings his hips into other dogs and does some weird hopping around that often confuses large breeds so I’d be nervous because I know how quickly things can get ugly. I don’t take my eyes off of him when he is with another dog but I don’t think I can reasonably expect someone else to do the same. I might feel comfortable with it if I found another semi-paranoid doggy savvy owner. Or, if someone had a super old guy and the two could just hang out together, my guy would love the change of scenery.

[fourfillies]

I pay $20 a visit for 20-30 minutes of ball/outdoor activity/potty break/cuddling for my 2 guys. Bonded/insured. Depending on the time of day sometimes brings in the mail

[amt813]

I pay $16 for a 30 minute walk 5 days a week.

[GraceLikeRain]

[QUOTE=amt813;8626573]
I pay $16 for a 30 minute walk 5 days a week.[/QUOTE]

Want to send your dog walker down south :lol: .

If I could find someone willing to do 15-20 minutes of high quality time for $20/week I could definitely pay someone out of pocket.

$15/weekday as some people are paying comes out to the local full board rates for a horse in this area.

In a perfect world I’d love to swap daily 30 minute walks for 5 hours of childcare twice a month. Perhaps that is wishful thinking.

[red_mares]

My pet sitter gets $15 per visit. Which come to think of it, IS more than board for the horse ($12/day).